A influência do fato superveniente na contagem dos prazos prescricional e decadencial: uma análise à luz da teoria da actio nata e da jurisprudência brasileira

Abstract

This research investigates the influence of supervening facts on the calculation of limitation and forfeiture periods in Brazilian law, focusing on the actio nata theory and its consolidation in the case law of the Superior Court of Justice and the Federal Supreme Court. The study aimed to understand how events occurring after the harmful act affect the initial term of these periods, reconciling legal certainty, grounded in the predictability of rules, with material justice, linked to the effective protection of rights in contexts of vulnerability. The methodology consisted of bibliographical review and critical analysis of landmark precedents involving cases of child sexual abuse, medical malpractice, banking fraud, and social security disputes, which revealed the growing application of the subjective strand of the theory, according to which the limitation period only begins when the holder acquires unequivocal knowledge of the injury and the effective conditions to act. The findings show that actio nata has moved beyond a mere interpretative technique in civil law to become a hermeneutical principle with constitutional scope, guiding the application of limitation and forfeiture across different legal branches. Moreover, supervening facts proved to be decisive elements capable of redefining the dies a quo, ensuring that the discipline of limitation periods aligns with good faith, the social function of legal relations, and the protection of vulnerable parties. The conclusion emphasizes that, although challenges remain regarding the lack of uniform criteria and the tension between predictability and effectiveness, the actio nata theory and the recognition of supervening facts represent a process of constitutionalization of the regime of limitation periods, reaffirming that legal technique must not prevail over justice and that temporal rules should serve both the stability of legal relations and the protection of human dignity.